National Archives asks past presidents, VPs to look for classified items - The Washington Post

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The National Archives sent a missive to representatives of surviving erstwhile presidents and vice presidents Thursday asking them to reappraisal their idiosyncratic records to verify that nary classified materials are outstanding, according to a idiosyncratic acquainted with the correspondence who spoke connected the information of anonymity to item backstage conversations.

The database of those contacted astir apt includes erstwhile presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and erstwhile vice presidents Dick Cheney, Al Gore and Dan Quayle.

The Washington Post reported earlier this week that the Archives was weighing specified a request.

The petition comes aft a constricted fig of records bearing classified markings were recovered successful caller weeks astatine President Biden’s location and a deliberation vessel bearing his name, arsenic good arsenic astatine the location of erstwhile vice president Mike Pence.

More than 100 classified documents besides were recovered by the FBI past twelvemonth erstwhile they searched erstwhile president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, capping a astir year-long quest to retrieve documents from Trump. The hunt came aft much than 200 classified documents recovered astatine Mar-a-Lago had been turned implicit to the Archives and the Justice Department.

Under the Presidential Records Act, the Archives takes ownership of millions of statesmanlike papers from the outgoing medication arsenic soon arsenic a caller president is sworn in, portion items deemed idiosyncratic spell location with the erstwhile president and vice president. Classified materials are considered authorities property, but compliance with the enactment tin beryllium an contented fixed the measurement of materials it covers.

Former president Jimmy Carter is exempt from the Presidential Records Act due to the fact that it covers records created oregon received aft Jan. 20, 1981, aft Carter near office.

An advisor to Obama’s office, who spoke connected the information of anonymity due to the fact that they were not authorized to talk connected the record, told The Post connected Tuesday that each classified records from Obama’s clip successful the White House had been submitted to the National Archives upon his leaving bureau and that the bureau continues to presume carnal and ineligible custody of Obama’s materials.

CNN archetypal reported that the National Archives sent the letter.

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